Assured Shorthold Tenancies and The Deregulation Act 2015

All landlords who let residential property using Assured Shorthold Tenancies (“AST’s”) need to be aware of changes implemented by The Deregulation Act 2015 that came into force on 1 October 2015.

There are no real substantive changes to any tenancies which began before 1 October 2015 but for any AST starting on 1 October 2015 or later every landlord must provide the following documents to the tenant at the start of each fixed term tenancy:-

• Gas Appliance Safety Certificate.
• An Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”).
• A copy of a government provided document called “How To Rent: The Checklist for Renting in England”.
• PLUS each floor of each property that is let under an AST requires a functioning smoke alarm to be fitted.

There are also changes affecting the service of Section 21 Notices. This is the 2 month Notice that most landlords are familiar with which allows a landlord to give a tenant notice to bring an AST tenancy to an end at the end of the term of the AST (or later) without the landlord needing a reason to terminate the tenancy. The changes are as follows:-

Landlords can only serve a Section 21 Notice after the first 4 months of the tenancy.

The form of the Section 21 has to be in the new “prescribed form”.

There is now a 6 month time limit after which a Section 21 Notice expires, running from the date of service of the Notice.

Further rules have been brought into force dealing with circumstances where a tenant complains in writing about the condition of the property. Any such complaint must be responded to within 14 days and the landlord must set out in his reply what he intends to do about the complaint and a timeline for doing any repair work.

If the landlord fails to reply to the written complaint, gives an inadequate reply or alternatively serves the Section 21 Notice in response then the tenant can complain to the Local Authority which must inspect the property. If the Local Authority then serves a remedial notice or carries out remedial action then the landlord’s right to evict the tenant under a Section 21 Notice is suspended and any Section 21 Notice already served will be invalid. No further Notice can be served for a period of 6 months.

Landlords should take care and legal advice when granting any new AST.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.